A fixation is a persistent focus of the id’s pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier stage

of psychosexual development. These fixations occur when an issue or conflict in a

psychosexual stage remains unresolved, leaving the individual focused on this stage and
unable to move onto the next. For example, individuals with oral fixations may have problems
with drinking, smoking, eating, or nail biting.

How Fixations Develop

According to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, children develop through a series of

psychosexual stages during which the id’s libidinal energies become focused on different areas
of the body. During the anal stage, for example, a child supposedly gains a sense of
satisfaction and accomplishment by controlling his or her bladder and bowel movements.

So what does this have to do with the development of a fixation? Freud believed that the
development of a healthy adult personality was the result of successfully completing each of
the psychosexual stages. At each point in development, children face a conflict that must be
resolved in order to move successfully on to the next stage. How this conflict is resolved plays
a role in the formation of adult personality.

Failing to successfully complete a stage, Freud suggested, would cause that person to remain
essentially “stuck.” In other words, they would become fixated at that point in development.

In addition to resulting from failure at a certain stage of psychosexual development, Freud also
believed that fixations could result if a particular stage left a dominant impression on an
individual's personality. Resolving the psychosexual conflicts requires a considerable amount
of the libido’senergy. If a great deal of this energy is expended at a particular point in
development, the events of that stage may ultimately leave a stronger impression on that
individual’s personality.

Examples of Fixations

Oral Fixations: As mentioned previously, Freud might suggest that nail-biting, smoking,
gum-chewing and excessive drinking are signs of an oral fixation. This would indicate that the
individual did not resolve the primary conflicts during the earliest stage of psychosexual
development, the oral stage.

Anal Fixations: The second stage of psychosexual development is known as the anal stage
since it is primarily focused on controlling bowel movements. Fixations at this point in
development can lead to what Freud called anal-retentive and anal-expulsive personalities.
Anal-retentive individuals may have experienced overly strict and harsh potty training as
children and may grow to be overly obsessed with orderliness and tidiness. Anal-expulsive
individuals, on the other hand, may have experienced very lax potty training resulting in them
being very messy and disorganized as adults.

Phallic Fixations: The phallic stage of development is primarily focused on identifying with
the same-sex parent. Freud suggested that fixations at this point could lead to adult
personalities that are overly vain, exhibitionistic, and sexually aggressive.

Can Fixations Be Resolved?

So how exactly are fixations resolved? According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory, the
process of transference played an important role in treating such fixations. Essentially, an old
fixation is transferred to a new one, allowing the person to consciously deal with the problem.
So how exactly do the psychosexual stages work? Freud believed that personality developed
through a series of childhood stages in which the pleasure-seeking energies of the id become
focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as an area of the body
that is particularly sensitive to stimulation. During the five psychosexual stages, which are the
oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital stages, the erogenous zone associated with each stage
serves as a source of pleasure.

This psychosexual energy, or libido, was described as the driving force behind behavior.

Psychoanalytic theory suggested that personality is mostly established by the age of five. Early
experiences play a large role in personality development and continue to influence behavior
later in life.

So what happens during each stage? What if a person fails to progress through a stage
completely or favorably? If these psychosexual stages are completed successfully, a healthy
personality is the result.

If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, fixations can occur. A fixation is a
persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage. Until this conflict is resolved, the individual
will remain "stuck" in this stage. For example, a person who is fixated at the oral stage may be
over-dependent on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating.

The Oral Stage

Age Range: Birth to 1 Year
Erogenous Zone: Mouth

During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so
the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating, and the
infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and
sucking.

Because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the
child), the child also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation.

The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process--the child must become less
dependent upon caretakers. If fixation occurs at this stage, Freud believed the individual would
have issues with dependency or aggression. Oral fixation can result in problems with drinking,
eating, smoking, or nail biting.

The Anal Stage

Age Range: 1 to 3 years
Erogenous Zone: Bowel and Bladder Control

During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling
bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training--the child has
to learn to control his or her bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of
accomplishment and independence.

According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in which parents approach
toilet training. Parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate
time encourage positive outcomes and help children feel capable and productive. Freud
believed that positive experiences during this stage served as the basis for people to become
competent, productive, and creative adults.
However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement that children need during this
stage. Some parents instead punish, ridicule or shame a child for accidents.

According to Freud, inappropriate parental responses can result in negative outcomes. If

parents take an approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive
personality could develop in which the individual has a messy, wasteful, or destructive
personality. If parents are too strict or begin toilet training too early, Freud believed that
an anal-retentive personality develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and
obsessive.

The Phallic Stage

Age Range: 3 to 6 Years
Erogenous Zone: Genitals

Freud suggested that during the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals.
At this age, children also begin to discover the differences between males and females.

Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s
affections. The Oedipus complex describes these feelings of wanting to possess the mother
and the desire to replace the father. However, the child also fears that he will be punished by
the father for these feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety.

The term Electra complex has been used to described a similar set of feelings experienced by
young girls. Freud, however, believed that girls instead experience penis envy.

Eventually, the child begins to identify with the same-sex parent as a means of vicariously
possessing the other parent. For girls, however, Freud believed that penis envy was never fully
resolved and that all women remain somewhat fixated on this stage. Psychologists such
as Karen Horneydisputed this theory, calling it both inaccurate and demeaning to women.
Instead, Horney proposed that men experience feelings of inferiority because they cannot give
birth to children, a concept she referred to as womb envy.

The Latent Period

Age Range: 6 to Puberty
Erogenous Zone: Sexual Feelings Are Inactive

During this stage, the superego continues to develop while the id's energies are suppressed.
Children develop social skills, values and relationships with peers and adults outside of the
family.

The development of the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins
around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer
relationships, hobbies, and other interests.

The latent period is a time of exploration in which the sexual energy repressed or dormant.
This energy is still present, but it is sublimated into other areas such as intellectual pursuits
and social interactions. This stage is important in the development of social and
communication skills and self-confidence.

As with the other psychosexual stages, Freud believed that it was possible for children to
become fixated or "stuck" in this phase. Fixation at this stage can result in immaturity and an
inability to form fulfilling relationships as an adult.
The Genital Stage
Age Range: Puberty to Death
Erogenous Zone: Maturing Sexual Interests

The onset of puberty causes the libido to become active once again. During the final stage of
psychosexual development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite
sex. This stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of
others grows during this stage. If the other stages have been completed successfully, the
individual should now be well-balanced, warm, and caring. The goal of this stage is to
establish a balance between the various life areas.

Unlike the many of the earlier stages of development, Freud believed that the ego and
superego were fully formed and functioning at this point. Younger children are ruled by the id,
which demands immediate satisfaction of the most basic needs and wants. Teens in the genital
stage of development are able to balance their most basic urges against the need to conform to
the demands of reality and social norms.

Evaluating Freud's Psychosexual Stage Theory

Freud's theory is still considered controversial today, but imagine how audacious it seemed
during the late 1800s and early 1900s. There have been a number of observations and
criticisms of Freud's psychosexual theory on a number of grounds, including scientific and
feminist critiques:

 The theory is focused almost entirely on male development with little mention of
female psychosexual development.
 His theories are difficult to test scientifically. Concepts such as the libido are
impossible to measure, and therefore cannot be tested. The research that has been
conducted tends to discredit Freud's theory.
 Future predictions are too vague. How can we know that a current behavior was caused
specifically by a childhood experience? The length of time between the cause and the
effect is too long to assume that there is a relationship between the two variables.
 Freud's theory is based upon case studies and not empirical research. Also, Freud based
his theory on the recollections of his adult patients, not on actual observation and study
of children.

How Does Homosexuality Fit In to Freud's Theory?

Another criticism of the psychosexual stages is that the theory focuses primarily on
heterosexual development, and largely ignores homosexual development.

So how exactly did Freud explain the development of sexual preferences?

Freud's theory suggested that heterosexual preferences represent the "normal" outcome of
development and suggested that homosexual preferences represented deviation of this process.
Freud's own viewpoints on homosexuality varied, at times expressing biological explanations
and at other times social or psychological explanations for sexual preferences.

Unlike many thinkers of his time, Freud was unconvinced that homosexuality represented a
pathology. He also believed that attempts to alter a person's sexuality were usually futile and
often harmful.
In a famous 1935 letter to a mother who had written him to ask that he treat her homosexual
son, Freud wrote that while he believed homosexuality was not advantageous, it was certainly
not a vice or something to be ashamed of. Freud wrote, "...it cannot be classified as an illness;
we consider it to be a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual
development."

While Freud's theory implied that homosexuality was a deviation in normal psychosexual
development, many contemporary psychologists believe that sexual orientation is largely
influenced by biological factors.

A Word From Verywell

While few people are strong proponents of Freud's theory of psychosexual development today,
his work made important contributions to our understanding of human development. Perhaps
his most important and enduring contribution was the idea of that unconscious influences
could have a powerful impact on human behavior.

Freud's theory also stressed the importance of early experiences on development. While
experts continue to debate the relative contributions of early versus later experiences,
developmental experts recognize that the events of early life play a critical role in
developmental process and can have lasting effects throughout life.

One important thing to note is that contemporary psychoanalytic theories of personality

development have incorporated and emphasized ideas about internalized relationships and
interactions and the complex ways in which we maintain our sense of self into the models that
began with Freud.